Pride season: how to make the most of it

What Pride is for

Pride began as a protest. The marches that grew out of the uprising at the Stonewall Inn in New York were demands for the right to exist in public, and that spirit still runs underneath the glitter. Pride today is several things at once: a celebration, a memorial, a political march and, for a lot of people, the one week a year when the whole city feels like it belongs to them.

Whatever Pride means to you is valid. You can march with a banner or dance on a float, sit on a kerb with an ice cream and watch, or skip the parade entirely and go to the quieter events around it. The only wrong way to do Pride is to feel you have to earn your place there.

Beyond the parade

The parade is the headline, but the best of Pride season usually happens in the margins. Look out for:

• Community festivals and stalls, where local groups recruit, chat and hand out leaflets. This is the easiest place to find a sports club, a choir or a volunteer role.
• Film screenings, talks, panels and exhibitions, often free and often in daylight.
• Queer history walks and archive open days, which tell you how your city got here.
• Sober and daytime events, picnics and family gatherings, for anyone who wants Pride without the late nights.
• Smaller parties and community nights in venues that are not usually queer, which pop up all over town for the season.
• Faith services, memorial vigils and remembrance events, which hold the quieter side of the week.

Smaller Prides, trans Pride and Black Pride

The giant city Pride is not the only Pride. Many towns and suburbs run their own, often more relaxed and far more local, and they are a wonderful way to meet people who actually live near you. Alongside them, trans Pride marches and Black Pride events have grown into major gatherings in their own right, created because the main event did not always make room for everyone. They tend to be more political, more intimate and, by many accounts, more welcoming to first-timers.

If the big parade feels like too much, start with one of these. If you love the big parade, go to these too. Supporting the parts of the community that had to build their own stage is part of what Pride is about.

Going alone, or with brand-new friends

Pride is the single easiest time of year to go to something alone. Everyone is in a good mood, strangers talk to strangers, and half the crowd is also there without a group. Pick a community event rather than a club night for your first outing, arrive early, and let yourself be swept along. Volunteering at a stall or on the route is a brilliant way to belong instantly: you have a role, a team and a reason to talk to everyone.

It is also a good moment to deepen the friendships you have only just started. Invite the person from your run club or book group to watch the parade together. Shared Pride days have a way of turning acquaintances into friends. Our guide to making LGBTQ+ friends as an adult has more on that step.

Travelling for Pride

Some people plan their whole year around a Pride trip, and it is easy to see why. A city in Pride mode is a city at its most open. Book accommodation early, stay close to the action if you can, and leave room in the schedule for the unplanned. A few places where Pride is a serious event in its own right:

• London, Manchester and Amsterdam, famous for its canal parade.
• Madrid, Berlin, Paris and the seaside town of Sitges.
• Tel Aviv, one of the biggest Prides in its region.
• New York, where it all started, plus San Francisco and Toronto.
• Sydney, whose summer Mardi Gras is a Pride of its own, and Melbourne.
• Before you book, read our LGBTQ+ travel guide and check official travel advice for your destination.

Stay safe and hydrated

• Water first, then everything else. Long days in the sun with crowds and drinks catch up with you fast.
• Sun cream, a hat and comfortable shoes. Nobody has ever regretted the shoes.
• Agree a meeting point with friends in case phones die or signal drops.
• Keep your drink in sight and look after the people around you, including strangers who seem to be struggling.
• Pride can attract people who do not wish you well. Stay with the crowd, know where the stewards are, and trust your instincts. Our safety page has more.
• Pace yourself across the week. You do not have to do every event to have done Pride.

Keeping the momentum after Pride

The week after Pride can feel oddly flat. The flags come down and the city goes back to normal, but the people you met are still there. Follow up with the ones you clicked with, join one of the groups whose leaflet is still in your bag, and put something queer in your calendar for the following month so the feeling does not fade. Pride is a yearly reminder of a community that is there all year round.

Waimz™ helps you keep that going: LGBTQ+ friendly places, communities and people near you, in Pride season and every other week of the year. Start with our city guide.